The Legendary Legend of Anzu Takizawa
by Uskius
Summary: After being saved from being trampled by a ninja wearing orange, young Anzu Takizawa decides to walk the way of the ninja and enrolls in the Ninja Academy. This is the tale of her deeds.


****Author's Note**** Anzu is that young child almost knocked over near the beginning of the first Shippuuden movie, wearing the purplish yukata and pink dress over it, that Naruto picks up and leaves on the water tower so she won't be run over. No character in Naruto has inspired me quite like her, so I decided to see what her future would be like. This is it. I decided not to split it up into chapters, so do this if you want to mark your place: get a sheet of paper and write "Top" on one end, and "Bottom" on the opposite, and mark where the scroll bar is on the side.

**NARUTO: THE LEGENDARY LEGEND OF ANZU TAKIZAWA**

Dreadful thunder, a storm moving in; the lightning and rain; such things at once both scared and fascinated Anzu. The clangor of the thunder oft reminisced her of the running feet of the ninja after the emergency siren had sounded, which brought her back to the time such an occurrence had happened: she had wandered into the midst of them as they raced down the street, and one blindly tipped her over, only for a young man wearing bright orange to whisk her away high onto the top of a water tower. Orange, she would always remember; where so many ninja were part of the background this one was bright like a firework in the night sky.

So, upon learning to read, Anzu studied ninja. She studied Hasirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, the two founders of her village, she studied the living legends, such as Kakashi Hatake and Naruto Uzumaki. Anzu could barely believe her mind, there were so many amazing things ninja did that she hadn't heard of. Her playmates' older siblings were ninja, and the ninja she saw on the street from her window seemed so very mysterious and powerful. So, little Anzu made up her mind to become a ninja. She knew ninja ran everywhere and were strong, so much to the annoyance of her parents Anzu ran everywhere, hardly settling down unless firmly told to; to be strong she did jumping jacks and pushups, the only two exercises she knew. She liked pushups despite them making her arms all tired. Soon she was able to do ten, and then fifteen, and then twenty, and she could do jumping jacks all afternoon until nap time. When her half-birthday passed during her seventh year, Anzu inquired of her parents:

"Mother, mother! Father!

I want to be a ninja,

Like that boy called Naruto.

But first there's is a ninja school-

Do you think I could go?"

Anzu's father began to weep, for all children grew too soon. For him, her mother asked,

"Are you sure?

For ninja do great things,

But also many cannot be

Who they are inside.

You're special to me, Anzu-

From open arms would you hide?"

"No, no, I would never,

I'd be by you in any weather,

Around you at all times."

Her parents silently deliberated, knowing in their hearts they would be fulfilling their daughter's wish but also damning her to a lifetime of sorrow and hardship. For what seemed like an eternity but was in truth a few relatively short moments they thought, and then came to a decision.

"Anzu, honey, we will support you

In whatever you should choose."

"Then I'll become a ninja! Yay!

Calloo, callay, oh happy day!"

Thus, young Anzu embarked on her mission of becoming a Konoha kunoichi. At many available opportunities, Anzu would look to find Naruto Uzumaki. She searched high and low, low and high, everywhere in Konoha beneath the sky. At last she spied him near a stone with countless names engraved on the surface, quietly reading them.

"Excuse me, mister Naruto sir,

Could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Huh? Oh, hey there!

Sure, we can talk.

What is it that you want?"

Pulling a leaf out of her pocket, Anzu expertly floated it above her forehead.

"I'm an Academy student, see?

Is there anything you could teach to me,

I want to be a ninja like you, you know."

"Aww, thanks! Well, I'll see what I can do!"

Though in truth, Naruto was busy. Not to mention that while he of course had knowledge of many techniques, there were only a handful he commonly used and subsequently could teach the young child. Recently he had finally learned what many considered a basic jutsu, its practicality causing him to wonder why he'd never bothered before. Figuring it would be a good place to start, he told her:

"Come with me to a training ground

And I'll show you what to do."

Off they went to an empty space, an open field lined with trees.

"Alright! First, you'll need to work up some chakra,

just within yourself,

And then you need the Ram hand seal.

The point with this is to move really fast:

It's the Body Flicker Technique!"

For many minutes Anzu worked at it, her chakra control adequate enough but having trouble timing the movement. Naruto saw moments where it seemed she had it down, but then remembered she was still young and could not quite move as fast, and that thus she actually was sporadically getting it just right.

"I think I almost have it,

Mister Naruto Sir!"

"Already? Man, I've got to look out,

Or you'll leave me in the dust!

And you can just call me Naruto.

What's your name?"

"It's Anzu Takizawa!

I'll be a great ninja someday!"

"I'm sure you will!

Now, I've got to go,

But keep practicing, okay?"

Though Naruto scarcely had nineteen summers behind him, to Anzu he seemed a mature adult. And then, she noticed his dress, the very same black and orange jacket and pants she remembered him wearing as he scooped her up and took her to the top of the water tower. The sudden moment had the timeless quality that surrounds treasured memories and life changing events, and Anzu hopefully looked into his blue eyes.

"Do you think you could become my sensei?"

It was a difficult decision for Naruto at first. He still trained with Konohamaru, but in recent weeks that was becoming more like sparring between close friends than teacher and student. Though had it ever been such? Admitting to himself that he did have time to spare in his schedule, he spoke thusly:

"Yes.

But, sometimes I have missions,

And I'll be away for a while.

So you'll have to keep practicing

When I'm not around.

Come find me,

After you've got the Body Flicker down

And we'll start from there, okay?"

Anzu nodded, trying to look grown up and serious for Naruto. He chuckled and ruffled her light brown hair before using the Body Flicker to disappear. Nodding again, Anzu resumed her practice with the technique.

Barely even a week later, the young girl had conquered the timing, and was showing her new technique off to her Academy classmates. They were all impressed, and the teachers commended her on her extracurricular studies. Anzu caught a couple of the boys sneaking glances at her, but they were soon forgotten as she once again immersed herself in her studies.

Having a surprise free day away from the Academy, Anzu went to find Naruto again. She found him at the same place as last time, staring at the names written in stone. Anzu called to him, and used her Body Flicker Technique to reach his side.

"Naruto-sensei!

I learned it!"

"Great job, Anzu-chan!

Now, let's see...

Have you learned tree climbing,

Water walking?

The Clone Technique,

Transformation?"

"B'whuh, 'transformation'?

They talked about the others,

But I haven't learned that one yet."

"Really? Then I'll show you."

Throwing together the necessary hand seals, Naruto transformed into his infamous "sexy" persona wearing a red bikini.

"Aaah! You're a girl, what?"

"Nope, this is the transformation technique!

It's a little like how you do water walking,

You have to keep using chakra.

Work up your chakra like for the Clone Technique-

Oh, these are the hand seals-

So, keep in mind,

Who you want to look like;

Then put all of that together..."

Anzu often imagined herself to be older in her daydreams, a powerful and well respected ninja. So that is what she aimed for with her first try. But she fell short and could tell from the sympathetic look on Naruto's face she had not quite done it. Again and again she tried, but Naruto appeared increasingly embarrassed at her efforts, his face growing redder and redder.

"B'argh! Do I have it now?"

"Uh, um- yeah.

You got it right around the fifth time-

And don't forget clothes, either.

Now practice with different looks

And keeping it up for a while."

The ninja standing before Naruto appeared much like Anzu, only older: her facial features still rounded but not hidden beneath her baby fat, her figure likewise; she stood as tall as Naruto himself. Naruto looked away, and suddenly the "don't forget clothes" reminder fell into place for Anzu, and she released her transformation.

"Take a breather, then we'll head to one of the training grounds

For you to practice jumping and moving around

While you're in the transformation.

Alright?"

Anzu agreed, and after counting to sixty announced she was ready to train with her Transformation Technique active.

The two stopped for lunch at Ramen Ichiraku, and parted ways afterwards. Anzu went home to read one of more recent records of ninja history for a while, a slim volume her parents had bought her after she enrolled at the Academy. But first, she had to! She must! Show her parents her Transformation Technique. Anzu did so, the image of how she imagined her older self appearing before her parents. Her mother began to cry, and Anzu felt sad as she released the transformation and sulked off to read her history book. She didn't feel excited as she read of the powerful Fourth Raikage, or the brave ninja like Temari and Kurotsuchi that faced the countless numbers of the White Zetsu Army. She didn't hold her breath as she read of the war's final moments, and after that gave up on the book. Maybe her old stuffed animals would cheer her up.

And so, four seasons came and went, and young Anzu was now eight and a half years of age. She was doing well in her ninjutsu studies at the Academy, and was one of the top students in her age group. She was decent with taijutsu and throwing kunai and shuriken, and a bit better in the normal school subjects. However, this year, the girls had to take special classes, about silly things like flower arranging and dancing. Their instructor in the flower arranging class was a young woman with long pale blond hair who introduced herself as Ino Yamanaka; she talked not just about how to arrange flowers but what meanings certain flowers had, and which flowers not to mix together; and during another one of her lectures Anzu began to wonder if there was _anything _she didn't know about flowers.

Anzu told her mother all about the kunoichi classes. She seemed pleased her daughter was learning more lady-like activities, instead of the more violent aspects of the ninja life.

During this phase, the Academy students were being taught several basic ninjutsu techniques for traveling, such as a generic sealing technique that could store away tents and other gear.

Then, Anzu learned why kunoichi needed such skills for infiltration missions. She didn't quite understand it but had a vague dislike of the explanation, and so she told herself she would work on ninjutsu first. Of course Anzu had read of kunoichi like the Hokage and Sakura Haruno, and how powerful they were; and while Anzu admired them, deep down she had wanted to be a ninja like Naruto. So upon learning her sensei was away on a long mission, she occasionally asked random ninja if they would train her for a while. Nearly all of them politely refused with a smile, at most training her in taijutsu for a day or two if they said yes. Seeing another kunoichi ahead on the street, Anzu jogged over to them and said hello. The young woman with long dark blue hair and lavender eyes smiled.

"Yes?

How can I help you?"

"I'm an Academy student, see-"

Anzu once more pulled out the leaf- and floated it over her forehead.

"-Could you help me train?"

"Oh, Naruto-kun is away?

I suppose I could help.

Though, I must say,

I mostly know my clan's techniques-

I not sure of what I could teach.

What has Naruto-kun taught you?"

"Taijutsu mostly,

But also the Body Flicker

And Transformation techniques."

Hinata noted Anzu's chakra control was good for a student, as the leaf was still floating just above her forehead even as they spoke, and the young girl didn't appear to be straining. There were only a handful of techniques Hinata knew that were of an appropriate level for an Academy student to build control. _Well, I was only twelve when I first used it... and I've only pulled it out a few times since then... I suppose it would be fine to teach her. I don't think anyone else knows of it so I think I'll pass it on to her._ Hinata nodded.

"Alright then, we'll train together.

Now, have you tried two leaves?"

"Uh huh, I've done it at home a few times."

"Then we'll use three.

Come, let's go to the park."

And off to the park they went, Hinata finding two more fallen leaves for Anzu to practice with. At first they sat side by side on a bench, Anzu making a scowly thinking face but still able to float all three leaves above her forehead. Hinata suddenly clapped her hands, and the right leaf trembled as Anzu looked at her surprised. Hinata nodded, and then led Anzu over to the teeter-totter. This was not entirely for fun- Hinata activated her Byakugan, and monitored Anzu's chakra flow as they lifted up and down.

"How good are you with water walking

And tree climbing, Anzu-chan?"

Surprised the young Hyuuga woman knew her name, she answered.

"I still have to think about it some,

But I can do it for a while;

And I'm a little better with tree climbing,

But not so good at hanging upside down."

"Aha! Then that's how we will train:

First, you'll float the leaves as you water-walk,

And then float them while hanging from a tree.

Come along; and on the way to the river

I want you to find another leaf

And float that one, too."

_Ah, four?_ Two of the leaves trembled, but stayed above Anzu's forehead while the girl looked for her fourth. Soon she found it, a small dried thing that would fit neatly below the other three. As the pair walked through Konoha, Hinata quizzed Anzu on odd random things- what had her mother been wearing that morning, what angle you needed to throw a kunai if the target was twenty feet above the ground and fifty feet away, and why a raven was like a writing desk, just to name a few. They reached their destination of the bridge near the hot springs, Anzu not having dropped any of the leaves; and when she stepped onto the water they still remained in place but when Hinata suddenly clapped her hands again all but one fell before Anzu could keep her focus.

_Mm-hmm, sudden noises. Not so go at hanging upside down with the tree climbing technique, she said? Then we'll work with that instead._

"Anzu-chan, what training ground

Do you and Naruto-kun use?"

"Oh, it's the one

By the memorial."

"Then let's head over there,

And continue the exercise."

Hanging upside down, the leaf floating exercise was much more difficult. Anzu could only manage to float one leaf for a few seconds, before she tumbled down from her limb. Hinata did not scold her, though; she only dusted Anzu off and encouraged her to try again. And try she did, but nearly every time either the leaf fell or she did. Anzu kept getting back up, and Hinata noted the young girl's determination. But, it was near lunch, and time to break. After feasting on ramen(of which Hinata ate a surprising amount), they returned. Though her effort level was still the same Anzu still kept dropping; and then Hinata activated her Byakugan again before offering advice.

"Anzu-chan, listen!

Don't try to circulate your chakra

Between your head and feet,

Focus and divide the flow between them."

The trainee nodded and pulled out another leaf and began the exercise anew; this time she closed her eyes and grit her teeth, and the leaf stayed in place- but she dropped from the branch again. As the afternoon came, Anzu had just once managed to complete the exercise.

So, the evening and night passed, and Anzu found Hinata again. The session was short, as Hinata had a Hyuuga function to attend, but Anzu carried on with her instructions. With the previous day's insight from Hinata Anzu was able to focus more properly. _Don't circulate, divide- like for the leaves... Hanging comes first, I don't want to fall..._ And then, Anzu had been focusing so hard she didn't notice how long or even that she had been successful in the exercise.

The next days had Hinata bothering Anzu while she hung upside down, in increasingly loud ways. Though she was able to hold up the leaves now, more often than not they dropped when Hinata surprised her. Then finally, all the endless minutes of blood rushing to her head culminated in one moment: Hinata leapt up to Anzu's branch, and without warning slapped her! But the blow was not enough to break Anzu's concentration; and Hinata nodded. They two descended to the grass below.

"You are ready now,

To begin learning the technique."

"I am?

Yeah!"

"First, you'll begin by focusing

Your chakra outside your body-"

"I can do that?"

"Yes, and it's important

For elemental techniques, as well.

I'll show you the first step."

Hinata closed her eyes for a moment, and a mass of her chakra formed in front of her outstretched palm.

"This is where the exercise will help-

Imagine that this chakra is the leaf,

And focus.

Now, here is the final step."

With a hah! Hinata straightened her arm, and the globe of chakra dispersed into dozens of blueish-white needles that flew towards the tree's trunk and stuck in, before fading away after a few moments. Anzu watched wide-eyed, having never before seen such a technique in person.

"Now, the second part is also like the leaves:

You'll focus the chakra into many small needles

Before firing them at the target.

First, just focus your chakra."

With the leaf exercise in mind, it was only a moment until Anzu had the mass of chakra in front her palm, like a small star. She looked to Hinata for a moment, and she nodded for Anzu to complete the second part of the technique. The young ninja gave a surge of focus, and several needles shot from the orb and quickly died out, only a couple making contact with the tree trunk. Anzu felt slightly disappointed but Hinata smiled and nodded.

"Good job, Anzu-chan!

Can you make a promise, to me?

Someday, I want you to teach

Another girl this technique.

Will you?"

"I promise, Hinata-san.

And...

What are elemental techniques like?"

"Very powerful,

As you should know, there are five basic ones:

Fire, water, wind, earth and lightning.

I myself haven't trained in one-

Though,

I've always liked water.

Anyways, if I remember right,

There should be some basic advice

In the textbooks at some point.

So, I can't teach you any,

But if you work hard you should learn some."

Anzu nodded, and began Hinata's technique again.

And so, another four seasons passed, and young Anzu Takizawa was now a little over nine and a half years old. She was now the best with ninjutsu at her age, and getting closer to being the best of the Academy students. There was an older girl, Lisa Yadomaru, who despite her skills with ninjutsu was for some reason held back every year; and then there was a boy two years younger than Lisa, who was simply known as Kenshiro. He was silent but not unapproachable, stern but apparently decent enough once you got to know him, and tall for his age. Anzu overheard some of the older girls call him "hunky", but Anzu didn't quite get it. Sure, he looked okay, but to Anzu not much(if any) moreso than the other older boys; plus he _was_ a boy, and thus prone to illogical and stupid mistakes for no good reason at all. Though, Anzu had to admit she hadn't caught him making any of those mistakes just yet.

Bringing her thoughts back to the present, Anzu found herself sitting next to Kenshiro, who was watching the math problem being scrawled out on the board with his usual intense expression. A sly glance at his worksheet revealed he had not written any of the answers down, not even notes as he solved them in his head. Skimming over her own worksheet, Anzu hastily redid an answer, and then focused again on the teacher's diagram.

Thanks to Naruto's and on rare occasions Hinata's training in taijutsu, Anzu had been able to separate herself from the pack in that area. She was not the best or one of the best, for many in the Academy were from clans that had their own fighting styles her fellow students were well-versed in and seemed to have been born knowing, but with hard work was beginning to make noticeable progress. In the classes related to tools(such as kunai, shuriken) needles had been introduced, and Anzu had taken a strong liking to them- they reminded her of the technique she had learned from Hinata, which she still practiced almost obsessively.

Some of the older girls loudly complained when they got a chipped nail during taijutsu training or sparring, or became irate when a stray kunai slashed their outfits. While she didn't complain- often- about chipped nails Anzu understood where the girls were coming from with that, and the damaged clothes laments made sense. It was one of trademarks of grown ninja, having your own distinct style. The renowned class from which her mentor Naruto had graduated was a great example: Ino Yamanaka had her cropped top and short skirt, and long blond hair; the famous Rock Lee had that green full body suit and bowl cut; and then of course Naruto himself- there were few ninja who wore orange when off duty, and aside from Naruto absolutely none that wore it on missions. The way Anzu looked at it, it wasn't poor fashion sense or lack of common sense, but a challenge: Naruto was known far and wide as one of the strongest ninja in the Five Great Nations, and wearing such a bright color was like saying come and get me! I'm ready for ya! It was after thinking of this again that Anzu decided to have her own signature look. There was that pink dress she'd just loved as a younger child, and the maroon(or was it purple?) yukata she'd frequently worn under it- yes, that would be the basis- pink was another color that stood out among ninja.

Now appearing in the curriculum was genjutsu. It seemed mysterious and powerful to Anzu, an eerie power that defied reason. Anzu wanted to learn more, but the instructor was very vague about it and gave few concrete guidelines to work with. So, she resolved to ask Naruto about it during one of their training sessions.

"Naruto-sensei,

What do you know about genjutsu?"

"Oh? Well, Anzu-chan,

Not a whole bunch, actually.

Are they teaching it at the Academy?"

"Yes, but they haven't said much."

"Well all I know is how to release it,

But I don't know any genjutsu to put you in

So you could practice it."

Anzu looked disappointed, and Naruto gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"Say, how about this:

Instead of some genjutsu

I'll teach you something else?"

"Ooh, more ninjutsu?"

"Nope,

I'm gonna teach you how to summon!"

Naruto struck the Nice Guy pose, and Anzu smiled. Naruto threw up the needed hand seals and bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood and slapped his palm to the ground and summoned a toad; as the puff of smoke cleared it was revealed Gamakichi had been summoned.

"Naruto, yo!

What's the deal today?"

"I'm teaching Anzu-chan here how to summon.

You wouldn't mind helping for a bit, would you?"

"Ah, might as well.

And how's it hangin',

Anzu?

Nice to meet ya."

Anzu smiled nervously and introduced herself, and then the three got right down to work with the mechanics of summoning. The minutes passed by nearly unnoticed for the fascinated trainee, who discovered that summoning worked both ways: Naruto had for some reason gone behind a tree as Gamakichi began to explain the process, and appeared blushing furiously as he was called back. Anzu laughed, seeing then that the toad was not as imposing as he looked. But there was another question on Anzu's mind.

"So, will I be able to summon frogs?"

"Eheh, that'd be pretty cool!

But I dunno,

Different people summon different animals,

Usually."

"Yeah,

And I know one way to find out.

If you try a summon without a contract,

You'll be taken to the area

Where animals ya got an affinity for

Are just there hanging around."

"Right! I think Pervy-Sage said

That's how he did it.

Do you want to try?"

"...Alright.

I'll give it a shot!"

Anzu studied the scroll for a moment longer, then rolled it up and prepared her chakra and went through the hand seals. _Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey and Ram!_ Biting on her thumb to draw blood as she'd seen Naruto do, Anzu then thrust her palm to the forest floor, and promptly disappeared.

A heartbeat later she blinked and found herself surrounded by sky and straw and... fur. _Oh, these- these are so CUTE!_ Around Anzu were adorable creatures with shaggy brown fur like a sheep and cat-like whiskers and ears. Her heart joyfully pounded and she reached down to stroke one that was sleeping curled up next to its sibling... and then she felt the killing intent wash over her like a wave, and she looked up and saw the mother.

It was so large it blocked out the sun, a mountain of fur and danger. Though it had the same whiskers and ears the mother did not much resemble her children, to Anzu it looked like a mix of cat and sloth and bear and monkey. She wasn't sure how that worked, but it did. Anzu noticed after a moment the beast's large form was mostly due to muscle, and not the fur as it was with the little ones. And its fur: it was an ashy white color instead of the brown of the infants. Finally, Anzu drew back her hand, and the killing intent lessened. She gulped, and slowly pulled out the contract scroll.

"...H-hello...

I'm Anzu Takizawa...

Your children are, uh, very cute.

Please don't eat me."

The mother growled, and eyed the scroll in Anzu's hand. _It was in my father's time when a human last came here... and that's a scroll, so she must be a ninja as well. Hmph. _

"Why have you come here and disturbed me?

Have you traveled here alone?"

"Waah, you can speak!"

"We speak as spoken to.

You are just a cub,

So I'll allow you explain yourself."

Anzu remembered the scroll in her hand, and held it up.

"I- I'm a student,

At the ninja Academy.

I was learning how to summon,

And I teleported here.

This... is a contract...

So...

I was hoping..."

"You mean for me to sign,

And be summoned at your will?

Summoned, by a cub?"

"It's possible for you to summon me as well,

If you sign the contract..."

"That I am aware of.

We have not lived undiscovered

For no reason at all-

We know much of your ninja ways.

Now come; tussle with my cub Onbii

Then I shall decide to sign or not."

The onbaa mother reached behind her, and plucked a cub from her back and set it down in front of Anzu. Onbii was nearly as tall as Anzu. The mother woke the other cubs with a low growl, and they retreated to the sides of the nest. Onbii and Anzu stepped towards each other, then Anzu quickly grabbed for Onbii's shoulders, her fingers working deep into the fur. The onbaa cub gripped Anzu under her shoulders, squeezing her ribs. Anzu gasped, but found her focus again, and moved to use a takedown but Onbii held her away until Anzu leaned back and twisted to the side, hooking Onbii's leg with her ankle. They rolled to the side and Onbii came out on top, and began shaking Anzu. Feeling her brain rattling in her skull, Anzu slid her legs between Onbii's and lifted with a grunt as she pulled with her hands- the onbaa was flipped over her head. Anzu flipped herself off her back and on top of Onbii, coming down in a knee attack. They rolled up a dust cloud, an arm or leg occasionally sticking out. _Agh- if Onbii's just a cub... oof! It's hitting as hard as Naruto does when he isn't careful!_ After another few rolls Anzu found herself on top again. Her hands were free, and Anzu dove forwards, her left elbow on the nest floor as her left hand braced itself against her right arm, which reached for the back of Onbii's head and pulled it up. The onbaa cub gave a small cry against the choke, but then used the very same throw Anzu had earlier to fling her off. Anzu landed among the cubs off to the side, falling awkwardly on her hip. She winced and stood, and jogged back towards Onbii- only for a long arm to hold her back.

"I have seen enough.

Your aggression was good,

But your style was weak:

You fight too much like a human."

In spite of herself, Anzu felt a little anger at the comment on her style.

"Of course I fight like a human-

I am one!"

She wheezed. But the onbaa mother appeared to ignore her, and continued speaking as if she hadn't heard.

"I saw potential, though;

So, I have signed the scroll."

The mother spread it out between them, her paw print standing out upon the paper. Taking shaky breaths, Anzu reached into the pack containing her few ninja tools which she wished she'd removed before the scuffle and withdrew a kunai, and made a cut on her finger. She signed her name slowly, and then sat back and inhaled deeply.

"Thank you,"

Anzu said, and there was a deep ache in her ribs as she took another breath. Then, Onbii crawled around the contract scroll and snuggled up next to Anzu, and before she knew it she was asleep.

Opening her eyes, Anzu found herself stretched out on the pavement, and something was in her hand. There was someone shaking her shoulder.

"Anzu? Anzu!

Wake up!"

The girl looked up, and saw Naruto; he had a concerned look on his face.

"Did you sign the contract?

You look pretty beat up..."

Too tired to speak, Anzu gave a smile of triumph and held up the pointer finger she'd cut and used to sign. Naruto's lips quirked upwards briefly, then he nodded.

"Come on,

Let's get you to the hospital..."

He picked her up and slung her onto his back, much the same as he'd seen the oddly familiar beast carry Anzu up to the village gate.

The recovery took a week, and Anzu was returning home. Upon the advice of the medic-nin who treated her she'd stayed a couple days after being healed, to make sure she was well. Anzu had tossed and turned in her hospital bed those nights, barely able to wait to get back home and to the Academy, and to keep training with Naruto. He had visited her often, and once, Anzu had asked him what kinds of other things she could do with summons. Naruto didn't have much time left as he had some important exam to take soon, but he told her of a technique where she could combine with her summon, and hastily scribbled down the basics of it before wishing her well and taking his leave. Her parents had visited almost as often as Naruto, but they seemed pre-occupied and only said their was something they wanted to tell Anzu once she got home.

So, Anzu wondered what she would be telling her classmates. Kenshiro had for some reason visited, but he didn't seem much like the type to be spreading gossip. Anzu had been surprised to learn from him that onbaa were considered myths by most people. He'd advised her to keep her summoning technique a secret, yet also had asked her to show him sometime. Confused slightly, Anzu agreed. She remembered how she was usually quick to display the new techniques they learned in class, and figured it had something to do with that. She had never thought of it as showing off, as she was so eager to learn; things like the nearly illegible notes on the... "_Combination Transformation?_" technique she held in her hand. Anzu resolved to practice it at her earliest convenience, and opened the door to her house.

"Mom! Dad!

I'm home now!"

"Oh, Anzu!

Come to the kitchen table,

Your mother will be here in a minute."

Anzu nodded and walked around the bar to the table and sat next to her father.

"She just went to get the list,

She won't be long-

Ah, here she comes now!"

Smiling with him, Anzu reached over and pulled out a chair for her mother. She hadn't seen her father's scruffy looking face so happy in a long time. Her mother laid the sheet of paper with the list on it, and Anzu saw it was filled with names.

"Anzu, dear-

You're going to be a big sister!"

For the next several days, Anzu was all smiles.

Naruto had just demonstrated the Combination Transformation technique again, and Anzu hunger for knowledge had already begun to move on towards a new direction.

"Naruto-sensei,

Are there any other techniques

Like this or the Clone...?"

"'Or the Clone'- aha!

There is, actually:

The Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Oh! Of course,

How did I forget?

But isn't it supposed to be hard?"

"Yup.

But you're a good learner, Anzu.

I think you're ready.

Now, prepare for a normal Clone Technique,

But... well, hmm...

Also, a Transformation Technique?

I guess."

"But, wouldn't that just make my clone look different?

I don't really understand."

"It's more like-

Hold on, gimme a minute...

There! More like splitting your Transformation!"

"Like a Clone?"

"No, your Transformation Technique."

"No, I meant-

Splitting my chakra for the Transformation Technique

Like I would with a Clone?"

"You can make your Clones look all different?"

Anzu face faulted. _Gah! This will take forever!_ The lesson finished in a confusing blur, the practical definition of doing a Shadow Clone Technique never exactly defined. Though, Anzu _did_ succeed a couple times in making her Clone's appearance different. Parting ways for the evening, Anzu waved goodbye to Naruto and hoped she would soon learn her master's signature technique.

The punch was slipped, and Anzu lifted her shoulder into Naruto's ribs, taking him off the ground- but he puffed into smoke and disappeared! Hearing footsteps behind her, Anzu turned to face another Naruto that was flying at her with a side kick. The attack was deflected, and Naruto twisted around to jam an elbow down onto an incoming knee strike from Anzu. Dropping back to the earth Naruto threw several fast punches, two of them she blocked and the rest of which missed as Anzu stumbled due to her knee. She kicked at his shin and the strike connected, and she pulled him down and tossed him over herself with a fireman's carry. She turned and slammed her fist down, aiming for his head but Naruto rolled away and came up on his hands and knees. He sprung forwards, and was met with a stiff elbow strike to the base of his neck; and he vanished into smoke. Still on her knee, Anzu wasn't able to dodge a dropkick to her back. She skidded forwards face down in the dirt and rolled onto her back in time to catch a punch with both hands; it had enough force to knock Anzu's knuckles against her lips still. She twisted Naruto's fist and slid it to the side, and let go with one hand to land quick blow to his ribs and push him away. Anzu stood now, taking up a deep stance with her hands up and elbows slightly out.

"Anzu... your style's changed some.

What gives?"

"I'm learning,

From the onbaa.

They said I 'fight too much like a human',

Whatever that means.

Humans fight fine..."

Anzu added, though she was beginning to like the simple onbaa style. There was something in the small, natural movements that touched upon something inside her.

"Darn right we fight fine!

Humans are the best!"

Naruto did the Nice Guy pose, and Anzu smiled.

"Now, how are you doing,

With the Shadow Clone Technique?

You still hadn't gotten it

When I left last month on the mission."

"Oh! I think I may have gotten it a couple days ago,

But couldn't really tell... here we go!

Shadow Clone Technique!"

Four copies of Anzu appeared behind her, and Naruto smiled.

And so,the days and weeks passed by, and occasionally turned into months. Anzu had learned the Shadow Clone Technique, and it's training benefits. Though she couldn't use it to the extent that Naruto did Anzu still greatly benefitted from the method. It had opened up a whole new dimension in her style and tactics that Anzu daydreamed about during her Academy classes and practiced on her own. She still obsessed over the technique Hinata had taught her, working with her speed and accuracy until she could ready it on a moment's notice and be mostly on target. She knew now that such techniques not requiring hand seals were very handy. She still visited with Hinata every once in a while, and during one of those times(after she had learned the Shadow Clone Technique) Hinata had given her some instruction with genjutsu; about how breaking out depended upon first recognizing you were caught in one, by noticing changes in your chakra flow. With an ironic smile Hinata told Anzu about a technique called Optic Delusory, which was a technique that did not need eye contact. She stressed the importance of knowing it, and Anzu could see it might be useful but decided to hold off on learning it for a while. After all, many of her visits with Hinata were at the Hyuuga estate now, and she didn't quite feel like training in such an impressive place. She'd also met Hanabi, who was a very successful chunin now, even at her relatively young age. Anzu admired the Hyuuga sisters' looks, and sometimes wished to be as pretty as them when she was older.

One afternoon, with Anzu full of energy in spite of the busy day, she came to her usual afternoon training with Naruto. He was already smiling, which usually meant he either had a prank planned or was going to be extra tough on her.

"Good afternoon,

Naruto-sensei!"

"Hey, Anzu-chan!

I have a surprise for you today-

No, don't worry, you'll like it.

I promise."

Naruto reached into his hip pouch, and withdrew two water balloons.

"No, hold on-

You see, I think you're ready...

Konohamaru wasn't much older,

And he learned it just fine.

Today-

I'm gonna start teaching you

How to do the Rasengan!

Now, make a Shadow Clone..."

Anzu obeyed, and was handed the two balloons by Naruto, who began to explain the rotation of chakra within them. Multiple directions, fast enough to agitate the water inside the balloon so that it burst. Making dozens of his own Shadow Clones, Naruto ordered them to find more more water balloons and some rubber balls, too. Anzu could disturb the water easily enough, but felt she needed to physically _see_ what she was doing to aid her progress.

"Naruto-sensei, could you do a Rasengan?

I think it would help me learn,

If I saw you do one."

"Ah, sure.

Okay."

Making another Shadow Clone, Naruto focused his chakra whilst the Clone helped stabilize it, arms working into a blur. Anzu made a scowly thinking face as she watched, but soon all the rotations became too fast to follow. She looked into his eyes and he nodded, and let the Rasengan fade away. Anzu and her clone raised their water balloons and started the practice again. For several minutes Anzu and her clone struggled with the control, the water balloons stretching out of shape but not quite breaking. More time passed, the balloons shuddering and twisting, until suddenly the one Anzu's Shadow Clone was holding ruptured. Naruto stopped her then; holding up his hand and smiling. He was reasonably certain of Anzu's control, but her exact power was still in question.

"That's enough for today, Anzu-chan!

Next time we'll try it with rubber balls,

But before then, practice.

Some of my clones should've left balloons and balls

At your house for you to use.

Keep it up,

And you'll know the Rasengan in no time!"

Anzu smiled, and thanked Naruto before bowing and turning to leave- but Naruto called her.

"Oh, Anzu-chan!

A birthday gift from Hinata!"

"B'whuh? She told you it was my birthday?"

"Uh-huh.

But,

She's out on a mission right now,

So she asked me to give it to you."

Naruto tossed Anzu a small package, and she nodded before waving as she jogged away. The early Spring air gently blew through her hair on the way home, and all the chirping of the birds seemed perfectly in tune; the sunshine was bright but not glaringly so, and there were a few fluffly white clouds clumsily making their way across the sky. She came home, almost floating up to the door.

"Oh, Anzu sweetie-

Your- well,

Several of Naruto came by,

A little bit ago.

What are all those balloons and balls for?"

"Training-

No, really.

Here, Mom. I'll show you."

Seeing a box with said balls and balloons by the door to her room Anzu skipped down the hall and returned with a balloon. She came into the kitchen, and held it over the sink.

"Look-"

Drawing out her chakra into the water, Anzu focused it into many whirling patterns and chaotic swirls, and in a few moments the balloon burst and released the water into the sink.

"So you're going to pop water balloons at bandits?

They'll all quiver in fear, I'm sure."

Her mother said, with a teasing smile. Anzu smiled back at her.

Later that night Anzu was looking across the room, at the empty crib. _Only a few more months... then I'll be a big sister..._ Satisfied with how the day had gone, she closed her eyes.

And then, those few months had passed, and the newest member of the Takizawa family was born: a baby girl, who was named Chiharu. The child had her father's dark hair, which Anzu loved to stroke and place kisses upon.

The passing of the months had also brought the completion of the Rasengan. With the aid of her Shadow Clones it had only taken Anzu a few weeks work up the technique and strength to break the balls, and soon after that came the stabilization. She was now working on having it ready to go in a moment, but with the density and complexity of the Rasengan she knew that would be a good ways into the future. And her future: what would she aim for as a kunoichi? A master infiltrator? A medic-nin? A cryptanalysis leader? Though, being honest with herself, Anzu wanted to keep her focus on ninjutsu, and combat. To dare to be noticed, to distinguish herself in battle, much as her mentor Naruto had.

"Just look at who the Kage's have trained;

Jiraiya, myself, Kakashi,

And of course Lady Tsunade."

"Well, people have short memories,

But they haven't forgotten I'm a jinchuriki.

It would be kinda unfair for them, Shizune."

"I hate to tell you, but-

Fair's not in a ninja's volcabulary.

Though, it's admirable you wish otherwise.

Besides, you should do fine.

You've already had a little practice."

"Heh... I just can't believe I have a team...

Alright then!

I'll make them into the second-best

Team Seven there ever was!"

_The Three Sannin were a Team Seven..._ But knowing Naruto meant another team, she kept this fact to herself for the moment. Shizune opened the door for Naruto, and followed him into the exam room. Their conversation had made them a couple minutes late for the final test. There, Lisa and Anzu stood, having passed. A young girl with feathery dark brown curls made the hand seals, and successfully made three clones with the technique. Kenshiro was up next, and speedily forced together the seals, before splitting into four. Naruto nodded, and continued observing the remainder of the test.

The following morning, Anzu was summoned to a rooftop. There, leaning up against the side of the stairwell, was Kenshiro. He nodded to her as she shut the door behind her.

"I was almost expecting you to be here.

Congratulations on graduating."

"You too, Kenshiro-kun.

Hey, who do you think the third member

Of our team will be?

Someone like Nonami, or Raoh?"

"Or me,"

Lisa Yadomaru stated, jumping over from the a nearby building. The three looked at each other, Lisa holding a small smirk as she glanced from Kenshiro to Anzu, and then Kenshiro motioned away from them with his head as someone coughed to get their attention.

"Great to see you all here!

My name's Naruto Uzumaki,

And I'll be your sensei from now on!

Now, I want each of you

To introduce yourself and your goals,

Your ninja way."

"I'm Kenshiro Kasumi,

And my goal is to become a jonin someday.

My ninja way is to fight the world,

And take all they can give."

Anzu raised her eyebrows, surprised to hear Kenshiro's clan name. Lisa spoke up next, the young woman flipping her braid over her shoulder.

"I'm Lisa Yadomaru,

An aspiring writer

And the most fabulous kunoichi alive.

I aim to be the most unpredictable ninja ever-

Of all time-

And my ninja way:

To make my pain a weapon to use."

"I'm Anzu Takizawa,

A proud big sister and young ninja.

My goals are to become a great ninja,

And help defend Konoha

With everything I have.

My ninja way is to be the best me I can."

Naruto nodded and smiled, full of hope for his team.

As requested by Lisa and Anzu, after teamwork exercises the first thing their team began working on was learning nature manipulation. Lisa was sick of waiting for it, Anzu wanted to see how it worked with her other ninjutsu, and Kenshiro shrugged and murmured it couldn't hurt to get started early. Skimming through the paragraph in the scroll again, Naruto pulled out the special slips of paper his pupils would focus their chakra into and handed them out. He cleared his throat.

"There are five reactions,

To infusing the test slips with your chakra:

It is common at first for-

Blah blah blah;

If the paper dampens,

That indicates water natured chakra;

Should it burn up, fire;

Be cloven in two, wind

Crumble, earth,

And finally, should the paper wrinkle,

That denotes lightning nature.

Alright, you guys ready?

Go!"

The three focused their chakra into the slips of paper. Anzu was not used to the medium, but in just a second it reacted, by crinkling up. Anzu's eyebrows went up, and she looked over to see the results of Kenshiro's and Lisa's tests, and both of their slips had burst into flames. Lisa chuckled, and a grin spread across the teen's face like jam on a biscuit. Naruto nodded, relieved.

"So, we've got two fire types?

And a lightning, too.

I'm not either of those,

But I _do_ know couple of people

Who could help."

Referring, of course, to Kakashi Hatake and his greatest rival and friend, Sasuke Uchiha. Remembering there were explanatory passages to be read, Naruto cleared his throat.

"Let's see...

'To begin with developing fire nature,

You must warm your chakra as you mould it;

First visualize it with your body heat,

Then build to a roaring flame.'

It says to practice starting with matches...

Luckily I have some!"

Reaching into his hip pouch, he pulled out two boxes of matches and handed them to Kenshiro and Lisa.

"Now,

'To develope your lightning nature,

You must increase it's high frequency vibrations

As you mould it;

Visualizing a string being plucked

Is an appropriate starting point.'

And it says to practice

With a small light bulb."

Dipping into his hip pouch again Naruto produced three ornament light bulbs, which were the size of a knuckle, and gave them to Anzu. Urging to them to get to practicing, Naruto gave Anzu a pat on the shoulder and she swiftly made two Shadow Clones and began the visualization of her chakra vibrating as if it had been twanged like a bowstring. The exercise took a good bit of imagination at first, then Anzu tried a different image and thought of her chakra as a force humming within her instead of cooly flowing. Sensing this was a good place to launch from, Anzu focused on feeling the hum ramp up to a buzz as she sent her chakra into the bulb. It didn't light up just yet, but Anzu felt the moment was soon.

One day a handful of months into their nature manipulation training, Lisa held up Kenshiro and Anzu after Naruto left. Reaching into her kunai holster, she withdrew a scroll, and unrolled it: if a poof! of smoke two other scrolls were unsealed, large ones the size of her forearm. She picked up the one on the right and gave it to Kenshiro, and the one on the left was bestowed upon Anzu. Kenshiro sighed, and asked,

"Where?"

"That doesn't especially matter-

Ahem, now these have _loads_ of techniques in them-

I mean the _really_ good ones.

I marked some of them with an X,

Those, I wouldn't use in the open,

If you know what I mean."

"Um, I don't exactly think we should,

Well,

Have scrolls full of 'X' marked techniques.

Lisa, how did you get these?"

Lisa put a finger on Anzu's lips, stopping her.

"You have your A-rank technique,

And I have mine-

Yes, I know about the Rasengan.

But no one else did. See?

That's what us ninja do,

Keep things nice and quiet.

Oh, and there are some I marked with checks.

You two should like those especially."

True to her word, the scroll from Lisa contained a veritable goldmine of high-class ninjutsu and genjutsu. The red "X" marks were very few and far between, and with all but one or perhaps two of them Anzu could see the obvious dangers and capability for grievous misuse. She was up late at night going over them under her sheet with a flash light, memorizing the hands seals for a select few and resolving to master as many of the techniques in the scroll as she could. _I owe Lisa big-time for this..._ Circling two techniques, including that certain "X" marked technique, Anzu rolled up the scroll, sealed into her secret shoebox lid hiding place, and went to sleep.

Anzu felt a twinge of guilt whenever she practiced one of the scroll's techniques, which was frequently. But all the same she had to admit she enjoyed learning them. Naruto occasionally marveled at her and Kenshiro's progress in ninjutsu, praising them for learning techniques on their own. Due to her preference for needles and the lightning techniques she risked displaying, Anzu was growing into a mid-range role on the team. This suited her just fine, as she loved her needles; and in any case she could summon Onbii to back her up in close range- but so far that had only been necessary once...

A call had come from the Land of Hot Springs. Trade had resumed its pre-war levels, but there were increasing reports of a group who was strong-arming the merchants and traders passing by a certain island into following said group's business plans. If it were by the more normal means of a knife, or written threats, it most likely would have gone on unchecked. But this group of thugs and swindlers did things a little different: their enforcers were not well-muscled men with clubs, but animals. Very large, very irate animals- of the type that ninja signed contracts with to summon. Most boats they visited were not seen(whole, at least) again.

So off Team Seven went to the secluded island. The sea journey was relatively smooth; the waves were easy enough the first few days that on a occasion they would water-walk to stretch their legs. Anzu loved the sea breeze, though the rougher waters and heaving of the ship left her feeling a little unsettled in her stomach. Not nearly so much as Lisa, for which Anzu was grateful. Along the way Naruto pointed out a couple islands to them, one where a variety of different medicinal herbs grew and had a hidden underground cavern filled with poisonous gas; another where a ruthless pirate had once subjugated the natives and terrorized passing ships.

After several more days of Lisa complaining about her seasickness, it happened. Anzu was in the crow's nest, surveying the horizon, when she heard a rushing sound and a stab of killing intent. She was about to turn and face the unseen attacker, but its large talon closed over her arms and dragged her off into the sky.

"Aaah! Naruto-sensei, someone-

Help!

The bird is flying off with me,

I don't have my hands free!"

Fortunately, Anzu's cries were heard by the crew, who quickly alerted Naruto, Kenshiro and Lisa, and the others on board. Momentarily Anzu thought of using Hinata's chakra needle technique to free herself, but she was by then too high in the air to survive landing on the water. She turned her head to look behind her, and saw the ship as a tiny caricature floating in the ocean, bobbing up and down. She couldn't tell if it had turned to follow her, but she fervently hoped it had.

Several blustery moments later an overgrown island was speedily creeping up underneath Anzu. The large raptor began circling it, zeroing in on a clearing with scattering of run down buildings- and surrounded by several giant animals: a snake, a centipede, and a boar were among them. The bird unceremoniously dumped Anzu a few yards off the ground, but she was already surrounded by four burly men.

"So we gots ourselves a girl, huh?

And such a young one too.

Tie her up real nice, Kensei..."

"She's a Konoha ninja too.

We'll need to watch for her teammates

In a few hours."

"Obviously.

Kensei you stay with her,

Me and Oghi and Todou

Will head back to the base."

With that three of the thugs walked away, and Kensei roughly grabbed Anzu's forearm and slipped a rope loop over her wrist; Anzu leaned inwards and gave the man a hard punch to the gut and a rising shoulder lunge but Kensei endured and yanked on the rope to unbalance her. he then tied up her other arm, and for good measure gave her a thwack! to the ear, and led her to one of the buildings. Kensei coughed, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"That little bit of resistance

Just lost you your meal.

Congratulations."

Shoving her through a doorway, he sat her on a stool and tied the rope to one of the rungs. Then, he picked up a chair from one corner of the hut at sat down near the door facing Anzu, staring at her intently. It made Anzu extremely uncomfortable, seeing Kensei's gaze linger hungrily over her front. _I don't think I can break the rope with my hands behind me like this...!_ She spent the next several minutes surreptiously trying to see if she could at least snap the rung the rope was tied to. After preparing herself for a brief and mighty burst of strength, Kensei took notice and stomped over and struck her across the face hard enough to unbalance her; then he finished the job by simply pushing her back onto the floor.

"You won't be getting away.

We've never caught a ninja before-"

Anzu kick the stool into his shins, causing him to curse and stumble as he advanced. He grabbed her ankle and pierced her with his stare.

"They say virgins bring more,

But fuck that-

You've gotta learn your place,

Girl."

A sudden kick at Kensei's head was avoided, and he moved over to the side prior to sliding over Anzu. As the man was beginning to pull up her pink skirt, Anzu remembered she had a technique she could use while restrained. Gathering the chakra outside her body in an orb beside her head, the energy pulsed and then crackled with electricity. Too late Kensei looked up to avoid the multitude of chakra needles that lanced into his face and neck. He cried out, muscles spasming briefly before he lost consciousness and collapsed on top of Anzu. Nearly hyperventilating, Anzu squirmed from beneath his weight and assessed her situation. _Jaw's still okay... arms are sore, but I don't think they're broken... just calm down a little..._ Anzu closed her eyes, and breathed in and out slowly. A minute passed in silence, before she leaned onto her side and fumbled with her hip pouch a moment, and pulled out a kunai. Wiggling and bringing her feet through her arms Anzu placed the kunai blade up between her feet and began to saw away at her bonds, straining to pull them apart as she cut into the rope. Slowly the fibres frayed and at last one rope was pulled apart, and Anzu loosened the others, and they fell off her wrists.

She stood and looked down at Kensei. She wasn't sure if he was unconscious or dead, and she didn't want to kneel down and touch him to make sure. He didn't look like he was breathing. Creeping up to the window, Anzu spied two men armed with katana leaning up against the wall, smoking. The other buildings she could see were unguarded. Peeking out the side window now, it appeared the one next to her was as well. Then Anzu turned her attentions to the interior of the shack she was in: she looked through the drawers of the desk near the back wall, and her search yielded a couple neat maps and handwritten letters. _Hmm? Wait, these islands... this is the group we were sent to break up! And these letters...!_ Folding up the maps and letters carefully, Anzu stowed them in her hip pouch with her ninja tools, and then pulled her shorts up a bit. _No back window. Looks like the side will have to do._

It was Anzu's pride as a ninja that was her undoing. Had she chosen to wear a color such as brown or dark grey, she might very well have gone unnoticed- but she was wearing her pink dress over her maroon gi top that she wore to announce her individuality. The large boar summon noticed her almost immediately after she slipped out of the side window, and bellowed. The men guarding the building across the clearing rushed over with their katanas drawn. Putting together the Ram hand seal, Anzu performed the Body Flicker Technique to behind the next building along the edge of the clearing. Forming another hand seal Anzu used the Shadow Clone Technique, eleven clones poofing into existence. As one ran around to face the gards the original Anzu hopped onto the roof, and reached into a hidden pocket in her obi and pulled out several needles. The remainder of her clones raced around the other side, drawing out needles as well.

"I've got you two surrounded!

Looks like you're stuck with me!"

With a cry each Anzu began to channel lightning natured chakra into the needles, and over a hundred miniature lightning bolts rained down upon the two men with furious vengeance. Some passed through and buried into the ground and a couple were deflected, but most buried themselves into the men's flesh and directly delivering their charge. Twitching they dropped to their knees, and toppled into the dust. One appeared to have some life left in him, his throat whole.

"You little...

Don't get cocky-

We've got _you_ surrounded..."

In her retaliation, Anzu had momentarily forgotten about the beasts surrounding the clearing. The boar and snake approached now, and the rustling of tree limbs suggested another creature was on the way. Working up her chakra, Anzu opened her mouth and put together the Snake hand seal. Streaks of electricity fed into a growing globe, and leaning forwards a spear of blue-white lightning speared into the open mouth of the snake, ripping through its skull before fading away. The snake convulsed wildly, thrashing around and smashing into one of the empty buildings. Panting slightly, Anzu dispersed her clones and turned to face the rapidly approaching boar. _I won't be able to use False Darkness again before it reaches me! Quick, what, could- aha! Boar- Dog- Bird- Monkey- Ram!_ Biting her thumb to draw blood, Anzu kneeled down and slammed her hand on the ground, the lines of the Summoning Technique spreading outwards from her palm. In a burst of smoke, an onbaa appeared, itself a giant of its species standing at approximately five meters tall. _Onbii!_

"Just in time!"

Onbii briefly nodded, before reaching up and stopping the charge of the boar. They struggled for a split second and then Onbii pivoted and threw the beast high into the air past the treeline to the side of the clearing.

"Will you be fighting like a human?

We're almost surrounded by beasts.

Choose, and soon!"

"Not like a human-

For sure-

Ready for number one!"

Lending Onbii some of her chakra, Anzu turned and focused on a lizard coming out from the trees, pointing at it and unleashing a most stomach turning and bowel liquefying burst of killing intent. The lizard turned and ran, leaving behind a mess. A scuttling sound coming from the side, and a large purple spider rushed in. Anzu faced it and withdrew her kunai from her hip pouch, dashing forwards and sliding under it on her side as she stabbed the kunai into the thorax and Onbii caught the first two arms and subsequently ripped them off. Anzu used the onbaa style rising shoulder lunge with all her strength and it was enough to knock the giant spider into the air a couple feet above her head. Onbii caught it and slammed it into the ground with an amount of force that might have shaken it had the spider been made of tougher stuff. There was another rustling off to the side, and the pair saw the centipede crawling its way into the clearing. They bounded over, Onbii at Anzu's back, and the overgrown insect reared up. Anzu leaped and cannon balled into it landing and closing both hands around her kunai grip and swung it upwards in the manner of the onbaa's two-handed uppercut. The blade plunged in up to her hands, scoring a deep gash; and then Onbii punctured the centipede's exoskeleton with a punch, before using her own two-handed uppercut two sever several feet of the centipede from the rest of its body. A loud droning sound filled the air, and an enormous stag beetle came flying into the clearing, and dove headlong for Anzu and Onbii. Focusing for a moment, Anzu channeled her lightning natured chakra into her kunai and flung it at the oncoming insect. She meant for it to travel the length of the body and pass out the back, but the beetle leveled out and the kunai instead passed through the lower thorax. Onbii stopped the charge by grabbing the beetle's horn, but briefly another charge- one of electricity- surged through the horn, shocking Anzu's summon. Onbii reeled back and Anzu grimaced, before holding out her hand and exhaling- a Rasengan taking shape. The stag beetle swiped at Anzu with its horn, the young kunoichi backpedaling until she came up against Onbii, who promptly lodged her fist in the beetle's brain-like bundle of neurons as Anzu called out and connected with her Rasengan. The enormous stag beetle was blown away by the fierce attacks spinning off back into the trees.

And then there was silence. At the moment no more beasts appeared to be in the area. Anzu took deep breaths, a little exhausted from using False Darkness and a Rasengan so close together. She looked to Onbii; the mammoth onbaa's fur was sticking out, standing on end from the electric shock she'd received. Anzu almost could have laughed, and nearly did so.

"The shock wasn't too bad,

Was it?"

"It could have been worse;

But it _was_ enough to put me off-

For a moment.

And you?"

"Slightly sore and winded,

But that's nothing new.

Could you stay around to watch the clearing

While I check out the building

On the far side?"

Onbii nodded, and Anzu took one last deep breath before walking towards the building where the two guards had been stationed. She circled around to the side, crouching low and coming up beneath the windowsill.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Three clones appeared, and Anzu signaled to them to get in position at the other windows. Anzu herself looked cautiously peered through her window, seeing a group of people huddled against the back wall, and an open door. Putting two and two together, Anzu heard a bird flying off and one of her Shadow Clones popped out of existence. The another came around the corner of the shack to help, and the two remaining clones teamed up on him. Peeking around the corner Anzu found the tall man was holding his ground against her. He was lean, and had a couple days of stubble and a mustache. Unlike Kensei, there was not rage on his face- just focus. The real Anzu came up in his blind spot, making half a Ram seal and channeling her lightning natured chakra into it.

"Thousand Years of Death!"

The attack came unexpected as planned, and sent the man flying into the air screaming and clutching his rear. The clones were ready for him when he landed, and unloaded several onbaa-style punches to his gut before he recovered. But he didn't quite have the same mobility, and so after slipping a punch and landing one of his own to eliminate one of Anzu's clones, he didn't check his follow-through and lost his balance, leaving an opening for the last clone to blast him with a double-punch to his ribs. The blow sent him over to the real Anzu, who used an onbaa styled "over and under" double punch, and prepared to use a fierce straight double punch but the guard grit his teeth and threw a swift roundhouse kick to Anzu's head. She ducked; and followed up with a sharp stabbing kick to the man's knee. He stumbled backwards, but quickly jumped off his good foot. Turned that into a banana kick that destroyed the last of Anzu's clones. Fighting him directly now, Anzu took advantage of her mobility and scored kicks to the guard's knee. He did stumble even more, but still was holding up very well and landed hits of his own on Anzu: to her hip and shoulder and stomach. But the damage had been done; his knee gave out as he closed the gap and Anzu put everything she had into the rising shoulder lunge. His breath was knocked out of him as he flew into the air above Anzu. She somersaulted up, and came down with both hands on the back of his neck.

"Rolling Onbaa Hammer!"

The hit was hard enough to flip the man head over heels twice, despite the diminishing distance to the ground. Looking down on him, Anzu saw the attack had created a visible break in his neck, and the sight sickened her slightly. _I hate it when I never find out their names..._ She dragged him off to the side of the shack, and sat him up against it, his head hanging forwards as if in deep sleep. Anzu dusted herself off, and stepped inside the building. There was a family and two older men, and the three young children of the family eyed her warily.

"I think I've managed to defeat the ones

Who were stationed here in the clearing,

But I don't know how many there are-"

"There's about a score

That stay here on the island,"

The elderly man closest to Anzu cut in. The father of the family nodded his concurrence.

"They have a few undercover agents,

But other than them,

They're all here."

"Okay...

My teammates have a ship,

And they might be coming by

In the next few hours.

I'll see if we can get you all to the mainland

When we leave."

The mother and father nodded, reassuringly patting their children on the shoulder.

With Onbii and a Shadow Clone staying behind to watch the clearing, Anzu felt a little more confident in leaving. From a tree top she had seen a well-worn path leading through the undergrowth, and she was now on that very same walkway. After walking for what seemed like an hour to her, Anzu began to smell smoke. There was no wind coming down through the canopy so she didn't know what direction it was blowing in from, but there was smoke. A figure suddenly materialized by Anzu's side. She was almost used to it, but she was surprised still.

"Lisa?

How did...?"

"I managed to enter into a contract

With a hawk,

Who was nice enough to carry me over here.

Have you been wandering through the forest this whole time?"

"No, I was tied up for a while.

The clearing was for hostages,

And after I escaped

I dealt with the guar-

Oh!

I almost forgot!"

Reaching into her hip pouch, Anzu pulled out the maps and letters.

"I found these in a desk;

They look like plans for future raids,

With the maps marked like that.

The letters are reports of some kind

But I didn't read through them."

Anzu handed one such report to Lisa, who scanned it as they walked along. She frowned, and then the words shifted and moved around, forming new words.

"As I thought!

This ink reacts to chakra-

You use it and perform a simple technique

That keeps the message hidden

Unless you put some chakra into it."

Smiling, Lisa tapped her temple with her finger.

"And even better:

This hidden message is a dirt sheet

On Land of Hot Springs merchants-

Very rich ones, I might add."

"So they hire us to stop these bandits,

And then you blackmail them for more?  
>Sometimes I wonder who's team you're on..."<p>

"I'm on Team Seven.

And I'll split some of the ryu with you;

After all, you _did _find this for me."

The two walked in silence for a minute, before more things came to the fore of Anzu's mind.

"Have Naruto-sensei

And Kenshiro arrived?

There's a family back in the clearing;

The father offered to pay

If we carried them to port

In the Land of Hot Springs,

And I wanted Naruto-sensei's opinion on that."

"Ah, you know how he is,

He'll say yes in a heartbeat.

Oh, and they're here-

Naruto-sensei didn't let us wait to land,

We ran ahead of the ship

Because the breeze died down.

Ah you should have been there..."

"...It wouldn't have something to do with the smoke,

Would it?"

"Yes, yes it would.

They advised me to back away,

So I got an aerial view

As I flew here with my new summon.

I almost didn't make it."

_That's Naruto-sensei and Kenshiro for you. And "new summon"? Since when did she even have an old one?_ But Anzu didn't let the mysterious young woman who was her teammate and best friend trouble her thoughts any longer, and the two picked up their pace. Their teacher and teammate were waiting for them near the wreckage of the main base. Just as Lisa had predicted, Naruto agreed to carry the family back to the Land of Hot Springs, and the reward was more than enough to make up for the supplies the family had consumed on the detour to the port.

Anzu kicked the rock down the street. _I was thirteen when that happened... things were almost as comfortably boring back then as they are now- if a ninja's life could ever be boring! What else was going on back then...? Oh, yes..._

It had been a sunny and overall disgustingly cheerful early Spring day. The girls were still buzzing over the events of White Day, about who did and didn't receive sweets from real or (in most cases) fictitious boyfriends. Naruto had even had a terrifying moment where he talked about the "Flames of Youth" in a sincere tone of voice, before prodding them towards the training grounds...

...because the other big topic amongst the genin were the Chunin Exams. Sure, they were still a couple months away, but this was an event that could change and/or end lives, a rite of passage amongst Konoha ninja. Naruto was light-hearted about the whole affair, giving them vague assurances such as:

"If you don't know an answer,

Don't worry about it!

Don't be afraid to skip ahead!"

The teamwork drills against Naruto's legions of Shadow Clones went smoothly, though, Kenshiro did seem a tad distracted, which was odd for him. His taijutsu skills usually kept him untouched, but he took a few unnecessary hits when "covering" for Anzu. He shrugged them off in his usual cool manner, but something about it struck Anzu as odd and she tucked the thought away for later.

The ninjutsu portion of their training was not spent on drills, as usual. Naruto had resolved to teach them something new, and had finally came up with an idea.

"You guys remember the Fourth Raikage

From the war accounts in your old textbooks,

Right?"

Kenshiro, Anzu and Lisa nodded teir agreement.

"And what was one of his

Most famous techniques?"

"The Liger Bomb?"

Kenshiro guessed.

"The Double Lariat?"

Anzu tried.

"The Guillotine Drop?"

Lisa supposed.

"Well, uh, all of those actually-

But they're not the one I had in mind.

I was thinking...

Lightning Release Armor!

Offense, defense and support,

All wrapped up in one technique!

So I got to thinking,

Wouldn't that work with other chakra natures?

It works great with earth nature-

And I heard with water nature,

You can breathe underwater-

So why not fire nature?

That's what we'll be trying today."

The grunts of concentration filled the training ground, and then the sound of laughter filled the training ground: Lisa had seen a gout of flame accidentally erupt from Kenshiro's posterior, and doubled up in laughter. Naruto chuckled, and then Anzu and Kenshiro joined in for a few minutes.

"Heh, I think that technique

Needs a name, Kenshiro."

"The Burning Hammer?

I'm not so great with naming things..."

"How about One Thousand Years of Revenge?"

Anzu suggested, the name of course referring to Naruto's infamous One Thousand Years of Death technique. Kenshiro smiled, actually smiled, and said,

"Why not?

One Thousand Years of Revenge, it is."

They then resumed the training more seriously. As might have been reasonably expected, Anzu quickly caught on and was able to use Lightning Release Armor; but in a slight surprise Lisa and Kenshiro were not far behind her in shrouding themselves with chakra of their nature. The celebration did not last long however- right afterwards Naruto formed dozens upon dozens of Shadow Clones and the wave of dopplegangers began an epically unsuccessful assault on the trio. Anzu darted around the clones, swift kicks and finger jabs and chops thrown with... lightning speed. For fun she once tried a Liger Bomb, and although it didn't make a crater in the ground the clone did burst into smoke. Kenshiro was lighting up the clones, the flames of his Fire Release Armor bursting on contact before the clones dispersed. Lisa was getting on similarly, her acrobatic and eclectic style almost like a whirlwind of flame.

Waiting at home was a package for Anzu. Her mother said it had been sent early in the day, delivered by a stranger wearing their cap low over their face. But stranger or not, the handwriting on the package was familiar to Anzu. _"Sorry this is so late, but I'm a horrible cook and it hasn't exactly been a box of chocolates making these by trial and error. Hope you don't get food poisoning. ~Kenshiro._ Opening the package, Anzu saw a simple red box inside and she opened the box: inside were an assortment of chocolate confections...

_And then it was like the Chunin Exams happened the day after, time went by so fast..._ That morning, Lisa had gathered her teammates and outlined her plan for passing the written test: it involved her Chameleon Technique, and Hidden Message Ink. Naruto had seen them off with a wave, going wherever it was the jonin went during the exams. Out in the hall, two jonin were hanging out by the classrooms, occasionally smirking or nodding when the students entered. The scene tugged at Anzu's eyesight, and she suddenly recognized the genjutsu technique at work. Putting her arms around her teammate's shoulders, smiling at the scruffy looking jonin as she guided Lisa and Kenshiro towards the "wrong" room. They entered, and found several of the genin teams there- but it was nearly time for the test, and Anzu doubted there would be many more coming in. Down at the front of the class room was Ibiki Morino, whose appearance had only gotten more intimidating with age: a couple new scars graced his countenance, and he had pronounced crow's feet. He had stood from where he sat behind the desk, and introduced himself. He stressed the very large stakes in passing and failing the exam, even going so far as to say,

"Some, they have never recovered-

Either from failing this written test mentally...

Or physically, from the second phase of the test.

For Konoha's sake, I hope you lot

Are up to the challenge.

Remember,

If you are _caught_ cheating,

Your whole teams fails the exam.

Begin now."

Anzu picked up her pencil and unhurriedly got working on the first question. She had studied some, but the phrasing and content of the questions was almost prohibitively difficult and answers and possible answers were not coming easily. Slyly glancing to the side, she saw Lisa had skipped the first question completely, answered the second, and was now working on the third just the same as Anzu was. Then the young woman began tapping her pencil on the desk, just loud enough to draw annoyed stares from a couple nearby genin. Lisa stared in return, then shook her head and leaned back, and began flipping her pencil up and catching it.

After a few moments, Lisa accidentally dropped the pencil on purpose. It rolled next to Anzu's feet. The two looked at each other, and Lisa bent down to pick it up.

Ibiki Morino saw an annoyed look on Anzu's face, and she bent beneath the desk. Lisa surfaced first, putting the pencil on the desk then leaning forwards and thinking quietly resting her chin in her palm. Anzu appeared preoccupied going over her answers. Then Lisa leaned back and stretched, before scratching her chest- and then winking and blatantly toying with it for a second when she caught his eye. Ibiki sighed. He would almost have been willing to pass Lisa and the rest of Team Seven right then, just to get the woman out of the classroom. It wasn't that she was strikingly attractive, but that she was a grown female stuck with teenaged and young boys just beginning to enter puberty. She was distraction incarnate, and Ibiki didn't want to see talents wasted here because of her.

His gaze having lingered on her for perhaps a bit too long, Ibiki returned to scanning the room, eyes extra sharp for the telltale signs of cheating. Then he noticed a peculiarity: Kenshiro was making notes. Notes had not been forbidden, but they made it so easy to cheat and get caught cheating hardly anyone ever dared. Scanning the room again, he caught a young kunoichi with short red hair casually resting her chin in her palm, with two fingers folded down. He'd seen her do this earlier; and after one of her teammates glanced across the room at her, he called,

"Ame Team Four:

Failed!"

The girl and the rest of her team looked up in shock, and Ibiki nodded towards the door. They were always different, but handsigns were a common tactic. A fistful of moments after the departure of the failed team from Ame, Ibiki thought he heard scratching sounds to the side, coming from his desk- but after the memorable year when one team broke into the Academy the night before the test and left a mouse in one of the drawers he'd learned to ingore noises from there. And in any case, Kenshiro was- burning his notes!

"Extinguish that,

Immediately."

Kenshiro looked up briefly, then nodded and closed his fist around the paper. The scarred exam proctor was now certain Team Seven was up to something, but they didn't appear to be doing anything out of the ordinary: Anzu and Kenshiro were going over their answers again, and Lisa had finally resumed working on hers. Checking his wrist watch, he saw the time was nearing for the tenth question. For fun, he ominously cleared his throat- the whole room instantly looked up to him, but he gave a dismissive "carry on" gesture and they breathed a sigh of relief and went back to work, until Ibiki called,

"Put down your pencils.

In just a moment,

I'll give you the tenth question.

But there are consequences:

If you take the tenth question, and fail,

You'll remain genin forever.

But if you don't answer,

Your whole team will fail the exam.

Is that clear?"

The genin nodded, and he continued.

"Who'll answer the tenth question?"

"It's just your entire ninja career on the line,

No pressure."

Lisa added. This earned her a stern glare from Ibiki. _I've never failed a team out of spite before, but I'll be damned if Yadomaru doesn't find a way to send me over the edge._ His gaze sweeping them room, he saw the Konoha jonin disguised as a genin from a small country raise his hand.

"I- I'll not take the tenth question,

Morino-sensei."

"Then your team can leave now.

Anyone else?"

There was a nervous moment where all the gening looked around at each other, and then another genin from a small country- not a plant, this time- raised his hand.

"I'll not take the tenth,

Either."

Ibiki waved him and his team out of the room, and then stared hard at the remaining teams. He glanced pontedly at the door, but no other genin raised their hands.

"Is that everyone?

Okay, now then I'll reveal something

About the tenth question:

You just took it,

And passed."

_Ah, that reaction never gets old._

"Ninja must make choices

Of great consequence,

Where the future is uncertain

And the timing couldn't be worse.

You all have shown the requisite intestinal fortitude

To pass this phase of the exam...

Congratulations.

Now, I'd like to introduce

The proctor of the second phase...

Sasuke Uchiha."

Releasing his Transformation technique, Sasuke walked down to the front of the room. He cleared his throat, and began,

"The second phase places the emphasis

On team work.

It also will require surviving in a hostile environment,

And will test your combat skills.

As I'm sure you are all aware,

There have been deaths during phase two.

It will be held at the forty-fourth training ground,

Tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, Sasuke-san.

Now if you would,

Please hand in your test sheets."

The genin filed down and placed their papers on Ibiki's desk. Lisa winked as she walked by, and Anzu couldn't resist smiling at the exam proctor. One by one they came down, and after handing off their papers to him they rushed to the door. In just a little bit, all the genin were gone and Ibiki sat down to grade the papers. Seeing Team Seven's papers, he set them aside for the moment and went through the rest. As usual, there was great similarity between the papers of the passing teams, some of them having right answers and some of them none. _Business as usual..._ The bulk of the genin's papers were dropped down onto the desk, and he picked up Team Seven's again. _Correct, correct... textbook answers, all of them. Hmm? "You have nice handwriting?" When has Yadomaru ever seen my-_ Then Ibiki realized that yes, somehow, Lisa had made it to his desk and copied the answers from the sheet he always left out as an extra challenge. _So that scratching was- son of a BITCH! First A plus in years! Well played, Team Seven. Well played._ Ibiki wrote the grade on Kenshiro and Lisa and Anzu's papers, then leaned back in his chair with a chuckle.

Outside Team Seven was walking to Ramen Ichiraku to celebrate.

"Anzu, that Clone Technique of yours

Was the most beautiful thing

I've ever seen.

Even beats out the face

Ibiki-sensei made the year he found the mouse."

"Heh, I was just worried

About getting the timing right

While we were under the desk."

"And it's the Chameleon Technique,

Right, Lisa?"

"That is correct,

Our dear Kenshiro.

Oh, and I should apologize

For flashing the rest of the room.

I couldn't resist."

"While you were invisible...

Really, Lisa?"

"Really really."

The rest of the afternoon went by fast, as if making up for the morning that seemed to take forever. They had gone over to Lisa's apartment and watched movies after visiting Ramen Ichiraku, a marathon of the Icha Icha series. Afterwards, her heart full, Anzu walked home side by side with Kenshiro.

"We're half-way there,"

Anzu said, possibly meaning the distance to her house but most likely referring to passing the first phase of the exams.

"Hopefully,

We'll make it all the way tomorrow."

He offered her his hand, and she held it tightly.

-Team Seven was running. Thanks once again to Lisa's Chameleon Technique, they had located a team with a Scroll of Heaven. The plan came together as they went along: after getting the team from Kusa running by way of Lisa summoning a giant snake, Anzu made use of one of her few genjutsu, Delusory Surroundings, to trick the team into splitting up after entering a "cave". The scroll carrier was a blond boy with mismatched eyes named Ichigo. He was blindsided by Kenshiro, who sailed right through the "cave" wall enroute to scoring a Fire Release Armor enhanced barrage of blows that knocked him insensate. The Scroll of Heaven was lifted from Ichigo's pouch, and Kenshiro stored it in his own. After they met up, Anzu proposed their incredibly simple and current plan: run. She would summon Onbii and use the Combination Transformation Technique, and chase Kenshiro and Lisa all the way to the tower. With the summoning and Combination Transformation done, Anzu was now in the appearance of an onbaa even taller than Onbii normally was, well over six meters tall. She roared loudly and swung on tree branches, her large stride keeping her close to her teammates. Once an honest team from Suna had tried to intervene, but when a badly aimed Rolling Onbaa Hammer split a boulder they decided to continue their search for a Scroll of Earth instead of helping a team short one member.

Lisa and Kenshiro made it to the tower ahead of Anzu, who released her Combination Transformation and darted towards the tower- only for a kunai on a wire to come out of nowhere and wrap around her. It belonged to a kunoichi from Konoha, who had a smug look on her face.

"It's just as I thought-

I knew that was just a technique,

You ran too much like a human."

"Well here's something else

I can do like a human!"

Working up her chakra, Anzu activated her Lightning Release Armor and the electricity surged along the wire, shocking the formerly smug kunoichi. The wire loosened enough for Anzu to slip out, and using the Body Flicker Technique Anzu crossed the distance to the tower in an instant. Opening the door and walking in, Anzu ler her armor dissipate and saw Sasuke looking at a stop watch. He nodded, and put it away.

"Team Seven,

Congratulations."

He looked to Lisa and Ken.

"But remember,

There may be another phase

If more teams come in

During the next three days.

I'll direct you to the showers,

And then you can find the cafeteria

On your own."

Team Seven walked down the hall with Sasuke for a moment, and he shook his head and laughed quietly.

"One more thing:

Tell Naruto he wins the bet..."

Wondering what exactly the bet was, they continued down the hall- until they were met by an ecstatic Naruto.

Now at the memorial, Anzu paused to look over the names. _Then it was four more years after we passed... It was a rogue ninja and his followers- but isn't that how things always start?_

The call had come from a village in the area of a place known as the Mountains' Graveyard. A disciplined group of bandits and rogue ninja had overrun their village and set up base in the Graveyard's caves. Like many men before him their leader wished to gain the power to establish a new village, but unlike so many men before him Genrusei Sohryu did not have just a fancy sword or a couple of trained ninja- the reason behind the message's urgency was that Sohryu appeared to have some measure of control over the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

As the phrase went, there's no kill like overkill. A team consisting of Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake, Sasuke Uchiha and the Hokage herself descended on the village, slaughtering nearly all of Sohryu's forces in a single night. Apparently the man and his ninja had been forewarned, because they weren't counted among the wounded and dead.

After the events of the Fourth Great War, the Outer Path statue was considered perhaps the most dangerous summon of all time, and Tsunade did not want to risk hesitating in her response to it. She formed three divisions of Konoha ninja to combat Sohryu's threat: one to deal with his personal guard and the man himself, a division to lead the way sealing such things as needed to be sealed, and the third division was to aid the others as required. Anzu and Lisa had been assigned to the third division, alongside the likes of Tenten and Shizune, who was making a brief break from her retirement to assist. Kenshiro had been assigned to the first division, which contained Konohamaru Sarutobi and Choji Akimichi, to name a few.

At last, the time had come to advance. A report from the Aburame and Inuzuka clans confirmed Genryusei was in the Mountains' Graveyard, deep in the caves. With a dark march ahead of them, the Konoha force set out. They leaped from tree branch to tree branch, not disturbing the ground below as they raced towards their destination. Anzu was grateful to be in the company of experienced ninja such as Shizune; this may not have been her first time in open combat, but was certainly the most important and the elder kunoichi 's presence was reassuring.

With the giant bones looming up ahead of them, the first division watched the caves from the treeline: Genrusei Sohryu's ninja were waiting outside, stationed at the mouths of the caves. Konohamaru looked along the line of the first division, and gave a signal. They sprang from the trees, zig-zagging towards the caves and flinging shuriken and kunai. One of the rogue ninja fell to a well-aimed kunai, and soon after that Choji used his Multi-Size Technique. He clobbered a ninja with a punch, sending the man flying back into the darkness of the cave. Over to the cave on the Choji's right, Kenshiro brought up his Fire Release Armor and charged ahead with Konohamaru. The latter had formed a Rasengan and it slammed into a katana wielding ninja after Kenshiro distracted them with a shot of the Great Fireball Technique. The number one candidate for Seventh Hokage formed four Shadow Clones and raced around, taking down one ninja as it they ran past, and landed a combination of blows on another ninja, a tall muscular man with bright purple hair who cursed as he failed to adequately defend himself and was hit into the air. Kenshiro saw the opening and jumped up with a spinning punch, the blow exploding the ninja's skull. Almost hovering in the air, he made the hand seals and used the Great Fireball Technique again, incinerating a ninja who had been trapped with the Shadow Possession Technique. Getting a nod from Shikamaru, the three glanced around to see where any help was needed, and it seemed the Konoha ninja had things well under control, though it seemed one of Sohryu's ninja had managed to place the Genjutsu Binding Technique on Kiba and Akamaru. One of Konohamaru's clones raced over to help the duo. A punch was enough to break the ninja's concentration, anad the Binding was released. Kiba and his ninja dog then performed two Passing Fangs, rapidly finishing off several of the ninja on their side.

In just a few moments, all but one ninja guarding the caves was eliminated. She was far more competent than any of her peers, able to avoid being grievously wounded and hand out several deep gashes with her kunai. Escaping with the Hidden in Stone Technique, the woman disappeared without a trace. There was silence of a few moments, before the Hokage spoke up.

"I'll do what I can for the wounded,

But immediately following that

The rest of the first division

And the second will follow me into the cave.

Understood?"

There was a chorus of agreement, and soon Tsunade began walking amongst the ninja who had been deeply cut and were bleeding. Her assistant, Sakura Haruno, also went among them and healed. Nerves were stretched taut as bowstrings waiting for the two to finish, long minutes going by.

"Is that everyone, Sakura?  
>Alright.<p>

Form up, and let's head in!"

Worried for Kenshiro, Anzu turned to Tenten.

"They'll be able to do this,

Won't they?"

"I hope so;

They _do_ have Naruto

And Lady Tsunade with them.

If anybody knows how to deal with the Outer Path statue,

It would be one of them.

And we're here, too.

Chin up, Anzu."

With a nod and murmur of thanks, Anzu turned her thoughts back to Kenshiro.

Thanks to an abundance of Naruto's Shadow Clones, all the traps were sprung and the Konoha ninja advanced unchecked. But upon reaching the main cavern, they were met by the sole survivor of the skirmish at the mouth of the caves.

"You're not the only one

Who uses Shadow Clones!

Shadow Clone Technique!"

Dozens of copies of the dark-haired woman poofed into existence, and ran towards the Konoha force. The melee was chaotic, the kunoichi dodging many blows, her amazingly flexible body going untouched- until, Shikamaru once again used his Shadow Possession Technique. The light from Kenshiro's Fire Release Armor was enough to trap the original, who Shikamaru had kept a close eye on.

"It's too late to stop him!

He's already begun releasing the seal!

You should run,

And maybe he'll spa-"

Tsunade ended the warning with a punch that left the kunoichi's face looking like absolutely nothing like a face. The Hokage shook the fluids off her hand.

"If we ran,

He wouldn't have a chance

To kiss my ass.

He's at the back of the room,

Surround him!

Go!"

The Konoha ninja spread out and went forwards, but it became clear that they really were too late to stop him. Genryusei Sohryu was making hand seals at a rapid pace, and one of the eyes was slowly opening. Genryusei then finished the series of hand seals, and turned around. His long graying beard was being blown around by some unseen force.

"I suppose

I should congratulate you

On getting this far.

But opposing me now?

Folly!

Madness!"

"I'll not see you

Threaten this nation with slavery and death!

You _will_ be stopped."

"You can only hope

For a swift death now..."

Genryusei turned his back on them, and raised his hands to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. His long robes flowed about, and the statue began to open its mouth. In spite of themselves, the Konoha ninja couldn't help but stand and watch. There was an mystic light flowing from the mouth. Kenshiro saw his comrades standing by his side, and then there was only one thing on his mind: _Never turn your back on a ninja._ Pushing his Fire Release Armor to its white-hot limit, Kenshiro made the Tiger hand seal as he worked up his chakra, then cupped his hands and brought them down to the side. With a roar, he threw them forwards and called,

"Blaze Surge Fist Technique!"

The roaring blast of blazing chakra shot towards Genryusei Sohryu, and in a breathtaking explosion obliterated the extremist, leaving a pile of chunky ashes. Even with the man gone, the seal breaking was well underway- and then in a burst of eerie light a form shot out from it. It had four horns on its odd dolphin-shaped head, and its body was covered with white fur. Opening its mouth, it let out a stream of super-heated vapor, several ninja crying out as they were caught in it. It ran forwards and sent Choji flying with a small swing of its head, and darted forwards again-

"Fall back and alert the third division!

Naruto and I will stay behind

To deal with the Outer Path statue!"

Outside the cave, Anzu sensed a wave of killing intent like none she'd ever experienced before. She had a vision of being blown apart by a spherical attack, of being pounded into the dust by golden brown hooves. She swallowed, and began to force her breathing into a slower pattern. Just then Konohamaru and several others came running out, their clothes damp and skin beet red.

"The Five-Tails is loose!

Dig in and prepare for a containment attempt!

Shikamaru shouted, as the rest of the first and second divisions came out. Tenten nodded to Anzu, then opened a scroll, from which a gigantic spiked iron ball was unsealed. Anzu took a deep breath, then did a familiar string of hand seals before biting her thumb to draw blood. She slapped her hand to the ground, and in a poof! of smoke Onbii was summoned. The giant onbaa immediately growled, looking towards the caves.

"We're going to need all our strength for this one...

Our toughest fight, Onbii!"

Forming a reverse Ram hand seal, Anzu used the Combination Transformation Technique. As the smoke cleared away, the form of the Five-Tailed Beast emerged from the darkness of the cave. With a boom! Tenten began to deploy Jidanda, and all around it ninja began to use some of their strongest techniques. Shizune stepped out in front and blew a great cloud of purple mist from her mouth, steadily billowing around the Tailed Beast until the Five-Tails blew it away with a stream of steam. From its flank a swarm of fire techniques approached; and turning, three of its tails swiped them away towards the rest of the Konoha ninja. They broke their ranks to evade and the Five-Tails quickly ran towards the gap. Grateful onbaa had five fingers, and with her heart feeling like it was going to pound its way out of her chest, Anzu made the Ram hand seal and used the Body Flicker Technique to put herself in the way of the Five-Tails. Despite Onbii's immense might, Anzu was driven back several yards. With a roar they managed to angle the charge and lift up the Five-Tails, spinning around and hurling it back towards the caves, the throw sending it crashing through one of the large skeletons. It quickly recovered, and looked up in time to see Jidanda descending upon it. Opening its jaw wide, a menacing globe of energy formed in its mouth, white and black chakra mixing together; and at the last possible moment the Tailed Beast Ball burst outwards in a beam and destroyed Jidanda with a large blast.

Then coming down through the smoke, Anzu smashed the Five-Tails with a Rolling Onbaa Hammer hard enough to make a large crater underneath them. And before the smoke cleared from _that_, Anzu felt herself knocked back and through the other large skeleton in the clearing. For better or worse, the Five-Tails was now focused on Anzu and charged towards her with its head down, four long horns pointed straight at her. Too sore to jump to the side, Anzu sidestepped and hammered the Tailed Beast with an onbaa style two-handed uppercut, the hit connecting behind a front leg and sending the Five-Tails flying into the mountainside. Not waiting for the beast to come to her Anzu ran to where the Five-Tails had fallen- suddenly, it whipped one of its tails at Anzu, hitting her ribs. Biting down on the pain she retaliated with a hard punch to the Tailed Beast's neck, and got a tail whip to her left shoulder for her troubles. Screaming at the pain, Anzu grabbed one of the Five-Tails' horns and wrapped her legs around the beast's front right leg and began using all the titanic upper body weight and strength of a giant onbaa in an effort to break off a horn of the Five-Tails. With a horrible cracking sound she succeeded, and now it was the Five-Tails' turn to howl in pain- or more likely, pain and rage- and retaliate, tossing Anzu off and headbutting her. The breath driven out of her it took all of Anzu's will to stand after landing heavily on her side. The Five-Tails charged again and Anzu rolled to the side. Before she could come up the Five-Tails reared back and stomped at her, the blow clipping her shoulder through her fur. Grabbing the offending leg, with a grunt she struggled to hold it in place while she sat up, then wrapped her other arm over the beast's back and with all the physical strength she could muster lifted and leaned back, slamming the Five-Tails into the ground. Breathing heavily Anzu slid from beneath it, and found the Five-Tails' head was stuck in place, its remaining horns driven into the ground all the way up to the skull. The beast bellowed and writhed, not breaking free but Anzu knew that eventually it would. _Onbii... I want to end this like a human. Hold down its front legs for me!_

Releasing the Combination Transformation, Anzu's more sensitive human nerves amplified the pain coming from her injured body. Onbii splashed down onto the Five-Tails' neck, using the same hold to restrain its legs that Anzu had to snap it horn. Running up onto her summon's back, Anzu gripped her right wrist and began focusing her chakra into a Rasengan. With a surge of focus that stripped away everything from her sight except the technique she was readying, Anzu began attempting to incorporate her nature transformation into the attack. Tendrils of bright electricity wove in and around it, and with a yell Anzu began to stabilize it, her focus so great the pain in her body went unnoticed. Never before had she gone so far with it, and now she jumped off Onbii calling for her summon to roll off the Five-Tails.

"Lightning Style: Rasengan!"

Anzu's ultimate attack landed on the Five-Tails' chest, burrowing into it as spears of white-blue lightning wormed their way along the Tailed Beast's body and erupted from it, and with flash and a geyser-like burst of lightning the attack was over. Anzu slumped down and rolled off the beast and began to crawl away. The Tailed Beast was rigid, its muscles seized up- but killing intent was beginning to pour from it, as though a dam was breaking open. Shikamaru motioned for Sakura to see to Anzu, then raised his voice.

"Sealing team, go!

Now's the time!"

Ino, Hinata, Hanabi, and a cat masked ANBU member ran forwards, unrolling scrolls and flashing through a short series of hand seals once they were in position around the Five-Tails. Anzu looked away and collapsed on her side, and rolled onto her back. The last things she remembered seeing before she closed her eyes were the faces of Lisa, Kenshiro and Sakura hovering over her.

Running out from the cave, Naruto and Tsunade caught the last few seconds of the Five Tailed Beast being sealed away. There were the signs of a large battle having taken place, with craters and bone fragments scattered around the clearing. Seeing the young faces around her, and the destruction they'd survived to seal away the Five-Tails, Tsunade sighed heavily and nodded to herself. _It's time. He's ready now..._

"Everyone,

Let's head back to Konoha

Once we've rested and healed here.

I have an announcement to make

When we get back home..."

With one last look at the names on the memorial, Anzu smiled at the memory of Tsunade's announcement and continued her journey towards the training ground. Her apprentice was waiting there, and Anzu did not want to disappoint her: it was the young girl's birthday, and Anzu had promised to begin teaching her a new technique. A few people waved to her on the way there, and Anzu smiled and waved back; these were the most peaceful years Konoha had ever known, and Anzu was a very well-respected ninja, now even in places outside of Konoha. Looking up at the sky, Anzu smiled as the breeze softly blew around the locks of hair that hung over her forehead protector and framed her face. There were no clouds in the wild blue yonder, and the sunshine was bright but not glaring. _There she is!_ Far ahead at the training ground Anzu's apprentice was waving to her and calling her name. Using the Body Flicker Technique, Anzu came over and smiled, giving her apprentice a hug.

"Happy birthday,

Chiharu!

Eight years old,

Ha, practically a grown-up!"

"Of course!

And you were late again!

What was it this time?"

"Uh, I was...

Visiting Kenshiro-san.

Anyways, I'm here now.

Are you ready?"

The younger Takizawa sister nodded, and Anzu turned to face a nearby tree.

"Here's the new technique..."

Holding out her hand, an orb of chakra formed in front of it, then burst into dozens of needles that pierced the tree. Chiharu's eyes widened, and she looked up to her older sister. Anzu nodded, and began to explain it.

"First, you'll need to work up your chakra,

Then focus it outside your body.

It's like the leaf exercise-

Do you remember that?"

"I remember..."


End file.
